Milwaukee Psych Fest Returns for a Crowded Four-Day Weekend

Though
only officially launched last year, the Milwaukee Psych Fest has quickly carved
out a rather prominent place on the city’s spring concert calendar,
capitalizing on the recent surplus of bands specializing in lysergic sounds,
subtle and otherwise, both locally and nationally. Likeminded events, most
notably the Austin Psych Fest, are also thriving, but while the timing is
certainly right, a big part of the Milwaukee Psych Fest’s rapid success is due
to the tireless efforts of founder and curator Andrew Shelp, who’s not only
aggressively promoted the festival in the intervening year, but also gone above
and beyond to make the second annual event even more eclectic and expansive.

“In 2012, Eric
Uecke from Cactus Club had gotten ahold of me to try and put together a 4/20
show, because he knew I was into outsider, weirdo music, and it just kind of
morphed into the Milwaukee Psych Fest,” remembers Shelp, admitting even he was
surprised by the sort of instant, avid interest the inaugural fest generated. “Last
year, I was doing the door and there were a ton of people I’d never seen
before, and I go to shows, play shows, put shows together, and I just saw so
many new faces. I was like, ‘Where are you the rest of the year?’”

To
maintain that momentum, Shelp sought out any sponsor he could to help fund the
2014 festival, mostly signing up local businesses like Sky High Skateboards and
Acme Records & Music Emporium, but also landing a certain beer brand
infamously eager to identify itself with anything the least bit hip. “Getting the
headliners all has to do with sponsorship, and this year Pabst really kind of went
all out for me,” says Shelp. “They’re covering a lot of the expenses, which is
awesome, it’s really helpful. The more sponsorship money I can get, the bigger
my budget is and the bigger bands I can book.”

One of his
biggest gets is the spacey proto-shoegaze outfit Loop, who only recently
reformed after ending their groundbreaking original run in 1991. “I saw they
reunited and reached out to their booking agent, but this was before they were
doing any touring or anything and they asked for an astronomical amount of
money,” says Shelp, “So I said, ‘Get a hold of me if anything changes,’ and all
of a sudden they booked this U.S. tour and were able to do it for, well, still
a large amount of money, but it was a big cut for them and something I could
actually handle.”

In
addition to a slew of other touring acts, this year’s four-day fest also lives
up to its name by presenting a plethora of local talent, including newer groups
Moon Curse and Space Raft as well as the long-running, but wildly
underappreciated, Vocokesh. “They’ve been doing it since the ’90s, put out a
bunch of stuff on Drag City, were on a big label and had good distribution, but
they’ve never really been recognized in the city of Milwaukee,” marvels Shelp. “I
mean, I’m from here, but I moved to Michigan for a few years and that’s when I found out about this great
Milwaukee band.”

For now,
the festival remains at the Cactus Club, though, given how far it’s come in a
single year, it’ll likely need more space soon. “If it keeps growing I
anticipate moving to Turner [Hall Ballroom] or the Miramar,” says Shelp, “But taking
it outdoors would be ideal; I would love to be able to find some land nearby.” Until
then, Shelp’s content to just blow a few new minds. “The emphasis is on getting
people involved, getting them motivated to go out and experience something they
maybe haven’t seen before,” he says, “I really think there’s something for everyone,
people just have to give it a chance and check it out.”

The Milwaukee Psych Fest runs Thursday, April 24
through Sunday, April 27 at the Cactus Club. For complete daily lineups, visit
facebook.com/milwaukeepsychfest.

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